Caught: Soledad O’Brien Uses Liberal Blog to Attack Ryan Plan

CNN’s Soledad O’Brien is no stranger to controversy or rightful journalistic scrutiny. She’s frequently been exposed for reading Wikipedia or talking points on the air, always disparaging a conservative guest on her program.

Tonight, she was the substitute host for Anderson Cooper, a program that boasts of its reputation for “keeping [politicians] honest.” During her interview with Virginia House of Delegates Republican member Barbara Comstock, O’Brien became visibly flustered and was actually caught doing finger stress exercises as she attempted to insert editorial commentary while her guest, a former skilled Republican operative, defended the House GOP budget, designed by Budget Chairman Paul Ryan.

Accidentally, a cameraman captured O’Brien furiously flipping through notes, only to cut out seconds later. What was she viewing?

Footage proves it was a printed email, talking points and opposition research.

The contents? There was a blog post from Talking Points Memo, the popular liberal blog. She was reading The Myth of Paul Ryan The Bipartisan Leader. She never cited it, but used its contents. In fact, she claimed to be reading a direct statement from Senator Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) office, but was in fact reading this excerpt from the blog:

The Romney campaign’s lone evidence that Ryan is a bipartisan leader amounts to a vague blueprint he co-wrote with Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) late last year that mirrors key elements of his Medicare plan. Wyden voted against Ryan’s budget and said Romney’s characterization of their work was dishonest.

“Governor Romney is talking nonsense. Bipartisanship requires that you not make up the facts,” Wyden’s office said in a statement. “I did not ‘co-lead a piece of legislation.’ I wrote a policy paper on options for Medicare. Several months after the paper came out I spoke and voted against the Medicare provisions in the Ryan budget. Governor Romney needs to learn you don’t protect seniors by makings things up, and his comments sure won’t help promote real bipartisanship.”

In the very same segment where she then interviewed Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, she used no notes, no research, and what are generally accepted as softball questions.

O’Brien loves Twitter. Ask her why she used opposition research emailed to her to question the Romney campaign surrogate.

71 Comments

Think of all the liberal BIAS at CNN that not reported!.Did not Soledad/CNN get caught/'busted' on video, reading wiki 'live' during an on-air debate against a Breitbart.com writer, while she was trying to _defend_ Obama from charges of embracing/promoting a racist theory called Critical Race Theory?

Are not Soledad and her cnn producers just complete liars? Is not cnn a simple nightly lying machine? .Send this story around to your friends - let them see it for themselves . . . #war!

Isn't this the same thing Hannity and FOX does? Really FoOX is the author of these schemes, I could talking point for Drudge that they use everyday. C'mon wake up, both sides have their talking point. But the FACT is Soledad was correct last night, whether she was reading from a blog or not, Wyden voted against Ryans plan.

Hannity and O'Brien are not equals. Sean Hannity is a known Republican opinion giver, in a previous show he shared a slot with a liberal.

Soledad O'Brien was (allegedly) a journalist. To even compare the two is to hilariously admit that "Soledad" is a liberal, an activist, a Democrat, and nothing close to a journalist.

I think the real story is how transparently fake these liberals are. They know nobody would listen to them if they were upfront, so they continuously present themselves as unbiased "journalists" and try to deceive people. The only thing is, eventually people realize the truth and stop watching them anyways.

But what does it say about the progressives and their cause that they have to constantly resort to such tactics? They have to constantly hide their true feelings? They have to constantly deceive people? Hannity is open about who he is; Andrea Mitchell, Soledad O'Brien, George Stephanopolous, etc... can only have a meager amount of success if their loudest words are I AM A JOURNALIST, while slipping their propaganda talking points under the table...

Your reply is right on. It amazes me when they make the comparison between a so called journalist and an opinion commentator. If they don't know the difference between the two then they probably shouldn't speak on the subject. But how would they know that. Poor souls.

All liberals are liars. Not only do they lie to other people and distort truths beyond recognition, they even lie to themselves. How else would they be able to look themselves in the mirror knowing they align themselves the tree hugging baby killers. Might sound harsh but its a fact.

I was never fooled into thinking for a moment that the supercilious Soledad O'Brien was capable -- or even desirous of -- of doing much thinking on her feet -- or on her own at any time, actually -- during the debates when she went out of her way to be condescending, arrogant, impatient and scarcely hiding her leftist partisanship. A real "news organization" would fire her ... but who ever said CNN was a news organization?

Ryan works with others across the aisle and he is popular because of it. Many Democratic politicians cite him as an example of someone they can work with on the Republical side. Of course other Democrats are going to pressure them later on and demand that they walk back their past actions.

The entire world knows this woman is a nitwit, other than herself and her employer. It is a sad day when a nitwit does not understand that she is one. Unlearned, unread, bizarrely confident. She exudes stupidity. And then acts, when caught in idiocy, which she continually is, as if it were a virtue.

But actually, he thought as he re-adjusted the Ministry of Information's figures, it was not even forgery. It was merely the substitution of one piece of nonsense for another. Most of the material that you were dealing with had no connexion with anything in the real world, not even the kind of connexion that is contained in a direct lie. Statistics were just as much a fantasy in their original version as in their rectified version

Ali, you are an awesome political guerilla! This is as revealing as Hanoi Jane on the anti-aircraft gun. You and patriots like you are why we will win/save this nation. We have to show less well-informed Americans that these people are tools of deception.

It's ok, I just looked up the ratings for the show...............nobody was watching. Soledad should go ahead and put on her "CNN/Obama/Biden" Lapel Pin. At least they would be honest at that point. She was lying like a Cutter, a Stephanie Cutter that is.

It's getting to the point that the MSM is NOT reporting anything political they are INFLUENCING the voters! That is ethically and morally wrong! it's no longer factual news or what they call reporting any more but just writing crapola like what they "THINK HE/SHE MEANT TO SAY" and NOT what they actually said!

When the VCR came out I listened to any major speech by any politician ESPECIALLY a president and would tape 1 TV news followup and listen to another and the trash I would hear from both never seemed to be what I heard with my own ears of the speech given AND it even started happening in the print media! They CAN'T get away with it now because everything is on line BUT they know that many people are to stupid and lazy to fact check what seems to come out of these talking heads who couldn't do an honest days work of RESPONSIBLE INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING if their lives depended on it!

This twit would have a bad hair day if she actually had to do any real reporting and CNN I only go to for news on anything OTHER than political the same with ANY of the main US 3 letter news programs.

Yes of course FOX is straight but it's sad when you have to go to BBC to hear factual political American political news!

The big lame stream media outlets are no longer reporting they are influencing and it needs to stop! REPORT not spread crap!

How STUPID can you be and still be able to walk on two legs?, holy crap, to regurgitate (that means to spit back out, since I doubt you're smart enough to know that word) such a LEFT wing STUPID comment, takes away ANY credibility you could ever have, what a bunch of idiots live in this country, I make you the president of the club.

and your well reasoned ( and by well reasoned, I mean reactionary, knee jerk and badly used emphasis) reply, you don't show yourself to be any smarter at all. Fox and CNN are both full of it, and Fox is way worse, as it makes up pure right wing talking points and presents them as news,

I don't know Soledad personally so I can't say for certain that she's an Obama supporter but I would be shocked to learn otherwise. The question I have for her, and her colleagues, is this: don't you believe that your duty should be to let voters decide by providing both sides of the issue? Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan may not be perfect, but no one can question that they offer a different viewpoint than the Obama-Biden ticket. If Soledad wants to promote her views on the air, let CNN establish an editorial spot and clearly label it as one.

What do you expect of a liberal such as she is? Smear tactics is all they are about... want to keep their liberal(marxist agenda) going and the uneducated American public believes that our Constitution is not at risk.... think again fellow Americans... we have libs from all latin America coming here marrying their kind & pretending we cannot see right through them go back to where you came from

I think this article is unfair with CNN. You should be blaming on Huffington Post for its liberal comments or Fox News for its conservative comments, because actually CNN never takes party on political issues.

Oh please Bob Smitley!! Why is it that some people just need to sound like morons!! They don't make it up!! I'll give you this,because i am a fair person who is niether a Dem nor a Rep,Foxs can get alittle off with somethings BUT not often.Some can't take the truth,but it's better than CNN CBS,NBC or others that just want the ratings!!!! Commom sense will tell anyone with half a brain could figure this one out.She was way out of line and mad an ASS out of herself on her mind you,just saying ~~

We continue to have a grave problem with humanity. We here in the United States suppose to set an example for the rest of the world. We have demonstrated our very bias and racism ways with eachother and among all races. We feel or think we are better than the other person; we want things our way, we have a deep sense of unreal feelings for one and other that we think it is going to get us somewhere. The media is their own and our own worse enemy. They come at us from every sources, tv station, radio, twitter, facebook, iphone, etc., and word on the street is......I would just say that the truth will always surface and while we have those who want to be good journalist and working for these known TV and Broadcasting system or station; you too need to be very careful about what you say or how you get your information because no doubt, your supervisor or boss or whomever is not depending on you to make his money, it is the thousand of others who are out there in the trenches. Soledad needs to be even more careful about how she say and do things on the air; she is looked at as being an African American and she might carry herself as white......but that is one strike against her...being someone she is not. Nothing has to be done wrong; for truth always surface and that is for nearly everything we do in life.

Anyone who can actually think for themselves can see how biased "Mainstream News Media" is. It is a dangerous day in the United States when aledged "new Anchors" are nothing more than surrogates for the Left. There are so many examples to be cited...... at least Fox is up front... Hannity is a political opinion show and they do not claim to be reporting news. What they do is try to balance out the lies from the left wing nut conspiracy. The people of the united states in general have not been engaged enough. I for one thank all the left wing nuts for the motivation they have supplied to the true patriots of America. I think we are starting to wittness the awakening and the taking back of our country this year. That will happen in November.

ALL the news reports are always one sided. But you have to notice they are always for obamas side??? Whats wrong with that picture? We all know it's a political bunch of crap. I refuse to even watch ANY news reports any more because all they do is totally make me wanna puke!!!

The media is so in the bag for Obama they have absolutely destroyed their credibility. The have not challenged him on $800 billion in stimulus misused, $6 trillion in debt, continued unemployment, inflation of gas and food, Benghazi-gate, Fast and Furious. They would have slammed Bush on any of these. The are USELESS.